For courses in First-Year Composition - Rhetoric. This version of The Curious Writer, Brief Edition has been updated to reflect the 8th Edition of the MLA Handbook (April 2016)*   Puts inquiry at the heart of good writing We write to learn as much as we do to express what we already know. In his remarkably personal and engaging voice, Bruce Ballenger makes that powerful concept central to The Curious Writer, Brief Edition.   The Curious Writer, Brief Edition doesn’t read like a textbook or provide a formula for composing essays. Instead, it encourages students to suspend judgment, to ask questions, and to seek answers much like academics do. Yet it covers a wide range of genres beyond the academic essay—narrative, profile, review, ethnography, argument, and more—all with a distinctive approach and “personality” that is lacking in other texts. It also reinforces the assumption that genres are malleable with a new chapter on repurposing or “re-genre-ing.”   Students love that this book helps them learn to write by pursuing their own curiosity. Teachers appreciate that Ballenger gives students ample opportunity to develop the habits of mind necessary to become critical thinkers and curious writers. * The 8th Edition introduces sweeping changes to the philosophy and details of MLA works cited entries. Responding to the “increasing mobility of texts,” MLA now encourages writers to focus on the process of crafting the citation, beginning with the same questions for any source. These changes, then, align with current best practices in the teaching of writing which privilege inquiry and critical thinking over rote recall and rule-following.

Table of Contents:
I. THE SPIRIT OF INQUIRY 1. Writing as Inquiry Motives for Writing Beliefs About Writing and Writing Development Exercise 1.1 This I Believe (and This I Don’t) One Student’s Response Bernice’s Journal Inquiring into the Details Journals Unlearning Unhelpful Beliefs The Beliefs of This Book Allatonceness Believing You Can Learn to Write Well Habits of Mind Starting with Questions, Not Answers Making the Familiar Strange Suspending Judgment Being Willing to Write Badly Searching for Surprise Exercise 1.2 A Roomful of Details One Student’s Response  Bernice’s Journal Writing Situations and Rhetorical Choices A First Reflection on Your Writing Process A Case Study Thinking About Your Process Exercise 1.3 Literacy Narrative Collage Exercise 1.4 What Is Your Process? Problem Solving in Your Writing Process The Nature of the Writing Process The Writing Process as Recursive and Flexible A System for Using Writing to Think Inquiring into the Details  Invention Strategies Exercise 1.5 Two Kinds of Thinking A Writing Process That Harnesses Two Currents of Thought The Sea and the Mountain Answering the So What? Question A Writing Process Driven by Questions A Strategy of Inquiry: Questioning, Generating, and Judging Exercise 1.6 A Mini Inquiry Project: Cell Phone Culture Exercise 1.7 Scenes of Writing Using What You Have Learned    2. Reading as Inquiry Purposes for Academic Reading Exercise 2.1 Using the Four Purposes for Academic Reading Beliefs About Reading Exercise 2.2 A Reader’s Memoir One Common Belief That Is an Obstacle Reading Situations and Rhetorical Choices Four Frames for Reading Reading Scenarios Scenario #1 Scenario #2 Inquiring into the Details Reading Perspectives Exercise 2.3 Reading a Life A Process for Reading to Write Questions for the Process of Reading to Write What Do I Want to Know? What Should I Read to Find Out? What Do I Do with What I’ve Read? Having a Dialogue with What You Read Inquiring into the Details Reading the Visual Exercise 2.4 Double-Entry Journaling with a Visual Text Techniques for Keeping a Double-Entry Journal Exercise 2.5 Reading Creatively, Reading Critically READING Bruce Ballenger, “The Importance of Writing Badly”  Alternatives to the Double-Entry Journal Wrestling with Academic Discourse: Reading from the Outside In Features of Academic Discourse Using What You Have Learned   II. INQUIRY PROJECTS 3. Writing a Personal Essay Writing About Experience and Observations Motives for Writing a Personal Essay The Personal Essay and Academic Writing Inquiring into the Details The Power of Narrative Thinking Features of the Form Readings Personal Essay 1 Laura Zazulak, “Every Morning for Five Years” Inquiring into the Essay Personal Essay 2 Judith Ortiz Cofer, “One More Lesson” Inquiring into the Essay Seeing the Form Photo Essays Writing Process Inquiry Project: Writing a Personal Essay Writing Beyond the Classroom Essaying “This I Believe” What Are You Going to Write About? Opening Up Listing Prompts Fastwriting Prompts Visual Prompts Research Prompts Narrowing Down Inquiring into the Details Clustering or Mapping What’s Promising Material and What Isn’t? Questions About Purpose and Audience Trying Out Questions for Reflection Writing the Sketch Student Sketch  Amanda Stewart, “Earning a Sense of Place” Moving from Sketch to Draft Evaluating Your Own Sketch Reflecting on What You Learned Developing Drafting Methods of Development Using Evidence Inquiring into the Details More Than One Way to Tell a Story Workshopping Questions for Readers Reflecting on the Workshop Revising Shaping Polishing Student Essay  Seth Marlin,“Smoke of Empire” Evaluating the Essay Using What You Have Learned    4. Writing a Profile Writing About People Motives for Writing a Profile The Profile and Academic Writing Features of the Form Profile 1  Bruce Ballenger, “Museum Missionary” Inquiring into the Essay Profile 2  Ian Frazier, “Passengers” Inquiring into the Essay Profile 3  Amelia Pang, “The Life of a Violin Prodigy from South Bronx” Inquiring into the Essay Seeing the Form  “Sun Boy” by William Soule Inquiry Project: Writing a Profile Who Are You Going to Write About? Opening Up Listing Prompts Fastwriting Prompts Visual Prompts Research Prompts One Student’s Response Bruce’s Journal Narrowing Down What’s Promising Material and What Isn’t? Questions About Audience and Purpose Trying Out Possible Frames Questions for Reflection Interviewing Interview Approaches Interview Techniques Writing Beyond the Classroom Digital Profiles Making Contact Conducting the Interview Inquiring into the Details Recording Interviews Listening and Watching Flash Profile: Veterans History Projects  From Bullets to Bottles: The Two Wars of Dan Akee Writing the Sketch Moving from Sketch to Draft Evaluating Your Sketch Reflecting on What You’ve Learned Developing Research, Interviews, and Reinterviews Establishing the Frame Inquiring into the Details Using Audacity to Record and Edit Audio Drafting Methods of Development Using Evidence Workshopping Reflecting on the Workshop Revising Shaping Polishing Student Essay Micaela Fisher, “Number 6 Orchard” Evaluating the Essay Using What You Have Learned   5. Writing a Review Writing That Evaluates Motives for Writing a Review The Review and Academic Writing Seeing the Form Choosing the Best Picture Features of the Form Readings Film Review Roger Ebert, “A Christmas Story” Inquiring into the Essay Reviewing Methods Carol E. Holstead, “The Benefits of No-Tech Note Taking” Inquiring into the Essay Video Game Review Seth Schiesel, “Grand Theft Auto Takes on New York” Inquiring into the Essay The Writing Process Inquiry Project: Writing a Review Essay What Are You Going to WriteAbout? Opening Up Listing Prompts Fastwriting Prompts Visual Prompts Research Prompts Narrowing Down What’s Promising Material and What Isn’t? Questions About Audience and Purpose Trying Out Focusing the Category Fastwriting Web Research Interviews Experiencing Your Subject Thinking About Criteria Refining Criteria for Better Evidence Considering Criteria and Rhetorical Context Inquiring into the Details Collaborating on Criteria Writing the Sketch Student Sketch Laura Burns, “Recipe for a Great Film: Unlikeable People, Poor Choices, and Little Redemption” Moving from Sketch to Draft Evaluating Your Sketch Reflecting on What You’ve Learned Developing Talking It Through Re-Experience Interview Read Drafting Finding an Opening Methods of Development Using Evidence Workshopping Reflecting on the Draft Revising Shaping Polishing Student Essay Laura Burns, “How to Not Feel Good and Feel Good About It” Evaluating the Essay Using What You Have Learned   6. Writing a Proposal Writing About Problems and Solutions Problems of Consequence Problems of Manageable Scale Motives for Writing a Proposal The Proposal and Academic Writing Inquiring into the Details Writing a Research Proposal Features of the Form Proposal 1  Buzz Bissinger, “Why College Football Should Be Banned” Inquiring into the Essay Proposal 2  Robert F. Saltz, Ph. D., “Preventing Alcohol-Related Problems on College Campuses—Summary of the Final Report of the NIAAA Task Force on College Drinking” Inquiring into the Essay Seeing the Form  A Problem in Pictures Inquiry Project: Writing a Proposal What Are You Going to Write About? Opening Up Listing Prompts Fastwriting Prompts Visual Prompts Research Prompts Narrowing Down What’s Promising Material and What Isn’t? Questions About Audience and Purpose Trying Out Researching to Answer the So What? Question Giving Your Answer on a PowerPoint Writing the Sketch Student Sketch  Jenna Appleman, “Loving and Hating Reality TV” Moving from Sketch to Draft Evaluating Your Own Sketch Reflecting on What You Learned Developing Research Focusing on the Justifications Drafting  Methods of Development Using Evidence Inquiring into the Details Evidence—A Case Study Workshopping Reflecting on the Draft Revising Shaping Polishing Student Essay  Jenna Appleman, “Avoidable Accidents: How to Make Reality TV Safer” Evaluating the Essay Using What You Have Learned   7. Writing an Argument Writing to Persuade People Motives for Writing an Argument Writing Beyond the Classroom Public Argument in a Digital Age The Argument and Academic Writing Features of the Form What Is Argument? Argument Has More Than Two Sides Inquiry Arguments Begin with Exploration What Do We Mean by Claims, Reasons, and Evidence? Claims: What You Want People to Believe Reasons: The “Because. . .” Behind the Claim Evidence: Testing the Claim Seeing the Form The “Imagetext” as Argument Analyzing What Makes a Good Argument  Classical Argument: Ethos, Pathos, Logos Rogers: Accurately Restating and Refusing Opposing Claims Exercise 7.1 Argument as Therapy One Student’s Response Rebecca’s Journal Avoiding Logical Fallacies Exercise 7.2 Find the Fallacies Factual Argument: Is it true that _____? David Leonhardt, “Is College Worth It?” Inquiring into the Essay Definition Argument: What should we call it?  Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, “The Language of War Is Killing” Inquiring into the Essay Casual Argument: What’s the cause? Kevin Sabet, “Colorado Will Show Why Legalizing Marijauna is a Mistake?” Inquiring into the Essay Inquiry Project: Writing an Argument What Are You Going to Write About? Opening Up Listing Prompts One Student’s Response Rebecca’s Journal Fastwriting Prompts Visual Prompts Research Prompts Narrowing Down What’s Promising Material and What Isn’t? Questions About Audience and Purpose Trying Out Kitchen Knives of Thought Research Considerations Interviews Writing the Sketch Student Sketch Rebecca Thompson, “Twitter a Profound Thought?” Moving from Sketch to Draft Evaluating Your Own Sketch Reflecting on What You’ve Learned Developing Writing for Your Readers Researching the Argument Drafting Designing Your Argument Rhetorically Methods of Development Inquiring into the Details What Evidence Can Do Using Evidence Workshopping Reflecting on the Draft Revising Shaping Inquiring into the Details Toulmin: A Method for Analyzing an Argument Polishing Student Essay Rebecca Thompson, “Social Networking Social Good?” Evaluating the Essay Using What You Have Learned   8. Writing an Analytical Essay Writing to Interpret Motives for Writing an Analytical Essay The Analytical Essay and Academic Writing Exercise 8.1 Find Interpeting an Image Features of the Form Literary Analysis Bart Brinkman, “On ‘The Shield That Came Back’” Inquiring into the Story Inquiring into the Details Four Methods of Analysis Film Analysis Bryan Bishop, “Why Won’t You Die?!” The Art of the Jump Scare” Inquiring into the Essay Seeing the Form Brand as Visual Interpretation Inquiry Project: Writing a Critical Essay What Are You Going to Write About? Opening Up Listing Prompts Fastwriting Prompts Visual Prompts Research Prompts Inquiring into the Details Common Literary Devices Narrowing Down What’s Promising Material and What Isn’t? Questions About Audience and Purpose Writing the Sketch Student Sketch  Hailie Johnson-Waskow, “All About That Hate” Moving from Sketch to Draft Evaluating Your Own Sketch Reflecting on What You’ve Learned Developing Analysis Research Drafting Methods of Development Using Evidence Workshopping Reflecting on the Draft Revising Shaping Polishing Student Essay Hailie Johnson-Waskow, “All About That Hate: A Critical Analysis of ‘All About That Bass’” Evaluating the Essay Using What You Have Learned   9. Writing an Ethnographic Essay Writing About Culture Motives for Writing Ethnography Ethnography and Academic Writing Features of the Form Ethnographic Essay 1 Elisabeth Chiseri-Strater, “Anna as Reader: Intimacy and Response” Inquiring into the Essay Ethnographic Essay 2 Rebekah Nathan, “My Freshman Year: Worldliness and Worldview” Inquiring into the Essay Seeing the Form German Cowboys Inquiry Project: Writing the Ethnographic Essay What Are You Going to Write About? Opening Up Listing Prompts Writing Beyond the Classroom Commercial Ethnography Fastwriting Prompts Visual Prompts Research Prompts Narrowing Down Inquiring into the Details Researching Trends and Subcultures on the Web What’s Promising Material and What Isn’t? Questions About Audience and Purpose Trying Out Inquiring into the Details Questions Ethnographers Ask Taking Notes Inquiring into the Details Ethnography and Ethics Field Notes Rita Guerra, “Field Notes on Friday Afternoon at Emerald Lanes” Writing the Sketch Moving from Sketch to Draft Evaluating Your Own Sketch Reflecting on What You’ve Learned Developing Sources of Data Inquiring into the Details Useful Library Databases for Ethnography Analyzing the Data Drafting Methods of Development Using Evidence Workshopping Reflecting on the Draft Revising Shaping Polishing Student Essay Kersti Harter,“Beyond ‘Gaydar’” Evaluating the Essay Using What You Have Learned   III. INQUIRING DEEPER 9. Writing an Ethnographic Essay Writing with Research Research Essays, Research Papers, and Research Reports Motives for Writing a Research Essay The Research Essay and Academic Writing Features of the Form Exercise 10.1 Flash Research on Tattoos Poll: The Tattoo Paradox Excerpt 1: Journal Article  Derek J. Roberts, “Secret Ink: Tattoo’s places in Contemporary American Culture” Excerpt 2: Journal Article Myrna L. Armstrong, Alden E. Roberts, Jeroem R. Koch, Jana C. Sanders, Donna C. Owen, and R. Rox Andresonl, “Motivation for Contemporary Tattoo Removal” Excerpt 3: Book Miliann Kange and Katherine Jones, “Why Do People Get Tattoos” Excerpt 4: Journal Article MyrJenn Home, David Knox, Jane Zusman, and Marty E. Zusman, “Tattoos and Piercings: Attitudes, Behaviors, and Interpretations of College Students” Exercise 10.1 (Continued from p. ) Inquiry Project: Writing a Research Essay What Are You Going to Write About? Opening Up Listing Prompts Fastwriting Prompts Visual Prompts One Student’s Response  Julian’s Journal Research Prompts Narrowing Down What’s Promising Material and What Isn’t? Questions About Audience and Purpose Trying Out Refining the Question Focus Like a Journalist Writing a Proposal Sample Research Proposal Moving from Proposal to Draft Evaluating Your Proposal Reflecting on What You’ve Learned Inquiring into the Details Scheduling Your Time Developing Tools for Developing the Research Essay Draft Drafting Methods of Development Using Evidence Workshopping Reflecting on the Draft Revising Shaping Polishing Student Essay Laura Burns, “The ‘Unreal Dream’: True Crime in the Justice System” Evaluating the Essay Using What You Have Learned   10. Research Techniques Methods of Collecting Research in the Electronic Age Research Routines Power Searching Using Google Inquiring into the Details Google Tips and Tricks Google Scholar Power Searching in the Library Combining Terms Using Boolean Searching Using Controlled Language Searches Developing Working Knowledge A Strategy for Developing Working Knowledge Refine the Research Question Developing Focused Knowledge Library Research: A Strategy for Developing Focused Knowledge Searching for Books Searching for Periodicals and Newspapers Web Research: A Strategy for Developing Focused Knowledge Advanced Internet Research Techniques Evaluating Library Sources Inquiring into the Details The Working Bibliography Evaluating Web Sources An Evaluation Checklist for Web Sources Research with Living Sources: Interviews, Surveys, and Fieldwork Interviews Arranging Interviews Conducting the Interview Using the Interview in Your Writing  The Online Interview Making Contact for Online Interview Surveys Defining a Survey’s Goals and Audience Types of Survey Questions Crafting Survey Questions Inquiring into the Details Types of Survey Questions Conducting a Survey: Paper or Electronic? Testing the Survey Find the Target Audience Using Survey Results in Your Writing Fieldwork: Research on What You See and Hear The Ethics of Fieldwork Note-Taking Strategies Using Field Research in Your Writing Writing in the Middle: Note-Taking Techniques Double-Entry Journal Research Log One Student’s Response Claude’s Research Log Using What You Have Learned   12. Using and Citing Sources Controlling Information Using and Synthesizing Sources  The Research Writer as Narrator The Narrator as Synthesizer The Notetaker’s Triad: Summary, Paraphrase, and Quotation Summarizing Paraphrasing Quoting Citing Sources and Avoiding Plagiarism Avoiding Plagiarism Inquiring into the Details A Taxonomy of Copying Exercise 12.1 The Accidental Plagiarist MLA Documentation Guidelines Inquiring into the Details The Common Knowledge Exception Citing Sources  Where to Put Citations Inquiring into the Details Citations That Go with the Flow When You Mention the Author’s Name When There Is No Author Works by the Same Author When One Source Quotes Another Personal Interviews Several Sources in a Single Citation Sample Parenthetical References for Other Sources An Entire Work A Volume of a Multivolume Work A Literary Work An Online Source Format The Layout Preparing the Works Cited Page Format Citing Books Sample Book Citations Citing Periodicals Sample Periodical Citations Citing Online and Other Sources A Sample Paper in MLA Style APA Documentation Guidelines How the Essay Should Look Page Format Title Page Abstract Body of the Paper References Page Appendix Notes Tables and Figures Language and Style Citing Sources in Your Essay When the Author Is Mentioned in the Text When the Author Isn’t Mentioned in the Text When to Cite Page Numbers A Single Work by Two or More Authors A Work with No Author Two or More Works by the Same Author An Institutional Author Multiple Works in the Same Parentheses Interviews, E-Mail, and Letters New Editions of Old Works A Website Preparing the References List Order of Sources Order of Information Sample References: Articles Sample References: Books Sample References: Other A Sample Paper in APA Style Using What You Have Learned   IV. RE-INQUIRING 13. Re-Genre: Repurposing Your Writing for Multimedia Genres What Writers Can Learn from Re-Genre: Knowledge Transfer Transfer from Blog Essay to Podcast: A Case Study Beyond Words: Communicating in Other Modes  The Problem of Definition Re-Genre is Deep Re-Vision  Genre as a Way of Knowing and Seeing  Genre and Its Conventions Re-Genre: The Assignment  Planning the Re-Genre  Applying Rhetorical Goals Exercise 13.1 Re-Genre Pitch Seven Multimodal Genres  Slide Presentations  Infographic  Brochure  Conference Poster  Photographic Essay  Radio Essays or Podcasts  Website  Video PSA Drafting Tools: Storyboards, Mock-ups, and Scripts  Scripts  Storyboards  Mock-ups Exercise 13.2 Genre Analysis: Conventions and Best Practices The Ethics of Borrowing  Creative Commons Licenses  Public Domain Reflecting on Re-Genre Using What You Have Learned   14. Revision Strategies Why Revise? Divorcing the Draft Strategies for Divorcing the Draft Five Categories of Revision Problems with Purpose Inquiring into the Details Explore or Argue? Revision Strategy 14.1: Dialogue with Dave Revision Strategy 14.2: What Do You Want to Know About What You Learned? One Student’s Response Julia’s Draft Revision Strategy 14.3: Finding the Focusing Question Revision Strategy 14.4: What’s the Relationship? Problems with Meaning Where Does Meaning Come From? Methods for Discovering Your Thesis Revision Strategy 14.5: Harvest Meanings in the Draft Revision Strategy 14.6: Looping Toward a Thesis Revision Strategy 14.7: Reclaiming Your Topic Revision Strategy 14.8: The Believing Game Methods for Refining Your Thesis Revision Strategy 14.9: Questions as Knives Revision Strategy 14.10: Qualifying Your Claim Problems with Information Revision Strategy 14.11: Explode a Moment Revision Strategy 14.12: Beyond Examples Revision Strategy 14.13: Research Revision Strategy 14.14: Backing Up Your Assumptions Problems with Structure Formal Academic Structures Revision Strategy 14.15: Beginnings, Middles, Ends, and the Work They Do Revision Strategy 14.16: Reorganizing Around Thesis and Support Revision Strategy 14.17: Multiple Leads Inquiring into the Details Types of Leads Revision Strategy 14.18: The Frankenstein Draft Revision Strategy 14.19: Reverse Outline Problems with Clarity and Style Solving Problems of Clarity Revision Strategy 14.20: The Three Most Important Sentences The First Sentence The Last Line of the First Paragraph The Last Line of the Essay Revision Strategy 14.21: Untangling Paragraphs Revision Strategy 14.22: Cutting Clutter Inquiring into the Details Transition Flags Revision Strategy 14.23: The Actor and the Action Next Door Improving Style Revision Strategy 14.24: Actors and Actions Revision Strategy 14.25: Smoothing the Choppiness Revision Strategy 14.26: Fresh Ways to Say Things Using What You Have Learned   Appendix A. The Writer’s Workshop Making the Most of Peer Review Being Read Divorcing the Draft Instructive Talk Models for Writing Workshops Group Workshops One-on-One Peer Review The Writer’s and Reader’s Responsibilities Useful Responses Response Formats  The No-Response Workshop  The Initial-Response Workshop  The Narrative-of-Thought Workshop  The Instructive-Lines Workshop The Purpose Workshop The Graphing-Reader-Interest Workshop The Sum-of-the-Parts Workshop The Thesis Workshop The Editing Workshop Reflecting on the Workshop   Appendix B. The Writing Portfolio What Is a Portfolio? Types of Portfolios Unevaluated Portfolios Evaluated Portfolios Why Require a Portfolio? Organizing Portfolios Writing a Reflective Letter or Essay Final Preparations   Appendix C. The Annotated Bibliography What Is an Annotated Bibliography? Writing an Annotated Bibliography  Sample Student Annotated Bibliography